In celebration of the holiday dining season, we are pleased to announce the 2012 Diners’ Choice Award winners for the Top 100 American Fare Restaurants in the United States. These awards reflect the combined opinions of more than 5 million reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The list of winners, which includes Annisa in New York City, Lola in Cleveland, and Sweet Basil in Vail, Colo., spans 31 states and Washington, D.C.Texas has the greatest number of winners with 10, followed by California with eight winners, and New York and South Carolina with seven each. Maryland boasts six winning restaurants, trailed by Colorado and Missouri with five honorees apiece. Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all have four winning restaurants, while Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have three each. Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington, D.C. all have two award winners. Arkansas earned a single spot, as did Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Oregon, and Washington.

The honorees, which include Anita Lo’s Annisa in New York, FIG in South Carolina, and Michael Symon’s Lola in Ohio, represent 30 states — and virtually every region of the country, including Hawaii. The South swept the awards, earning 20 spots on the list, with North Carolina and South Carolina each boasting six winning restaurants. The Northeast took 16 places among the honorees, with 11 in New York alone. Ohio and Illinois, with five nods apiece, helped the Great Lakes region earn an impressive 15 wins; meanwhile, the Lone Star State took 10 spots, giving the Southwest a total of 13 awards. States also represented on the list of winners include Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon and Utah, among others.

"It's insane, this club that I just got accepted into. It's an absolute honor. You're one of the faces of this industry that I love." — Iron Chef Forgione

We’ve been following his every move for weeks, so we were so pleased to see the talented Marc Forgione claim the title of Iron Chef! Chef Forgione — or, ahem — Iron Chef Forgione talked to us about the last episode, his judges and co-competitors, and the first Thanksgiving.

Marc, it’s neat that you brought up your dad. First, his ‘American Place’ cookbook is, literally, prominently displayed in my home. BUT…I actually think of you absolutely discretely from him. Have you ever felt that you’ve cooked in his shadow?

Throughout my entire life, no matter where I have worked or who I have worked for, I have always heard the comment, “I heard you are Larry’s kid.” Most people would think that this puts me at an advantage, but that could not be farther from the truth. Every time I would slip up, I would have to hear a barage of questions, comparing me to him: “Would your father serve that? Would your father eat that?” and so on. Having said that, I obviously respect my father immensely and everything he has done for the restaurant business. I can only hope that one day they will be asking my son the same exact questions.

Bobby Flay and Morimoto are sitting in judgment. What are you thinking in terms of cooking for these two chefs?

Bobby Flay and Morimoto are legends in this business and cooking for the two of them definitely ups the ante for the task at hand. Morimoto commented during my first few dishes that he thought some things were salty – that definitely got me nervous. I loved hearing Bobby’s feedback throughout my courses. He was not just tasting the food but was truly judging everything that was going on throughout the battle. He broke down every single aspect of the dishes I put in front of him, and I valued all of his insights.

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Caroline Potter

Caroline Potter is the Chief Dining Officer for OpenTable, Inc. She’s a dining trend-spotter and an OpenTable VIP, who dines out more than she eats in and has accrued more than 10,000 Dining Rewards points. Caroline started working in restaurants as a teen and she's since tackled every front-of-the-house job, from bartender and hostess to runner and server. She trained as a chef at Manhattan’s prestigious French Culinary Institute, cooking at L’Ecole. In addition to her role at OpenTable, she has written about food from farm to table for New York City’s famed Greenmarket and Edible Brooklyn and Edible East End magazines. Caroline is also a Certified Master Gardener.